Hasler said common sense needed to prevail in these situations and issuing monetary fines could be a way forward.

"They'll probably [introduce a fine system] in due course," he said.

"At the moment, they've got one judicial system running. Introduce another one, you certainly can have two," he said.

Hasler proposed a system similar to the AFL which conducts a 'pay-and-play' model in which players receive fines for minor infringements.

There are some inconsistencies there, so they'll have to look at that and overhaul it.

Des Hasler, Canterbury Bulldogs Coach

"Nothing will happen this season, obviously, but it's probably something they can address," Hasler said.

"I think they realise and readily address that there are some inconsistencies in there, so they'll have to look at that and overhaul it."

Former referee boss Stuart Raper also said there needed to be a flexible approach to players touching referees.

"In our game we have a lot of accidental collision," he said.

"There's a lot of clustering players, especially when there's [players around] a scrum area, or when a penalty has been called, there's a lot of people around a ruck area."

The NRL has been left red faced after last night's case.

The code is cracking down on touching match officials yet a three-man judiciary panel found Bulldogs' Klemmer not guilty.

Referee 'broke ranks' by appearing on behalf of player

Grand final whistleblower Cummins seemingly broke ranks with the NRL to give evidence favourable to Klemmer.

"I didn't notice him making contact with me at the time," Cummins said.

Cummins said he did not realise Klemmer had touched him until he was alerted to the charge laid by the match review committee at his review session the following day.

Raper said he was surprised at Cummins' decision to appear on behalf of Klemmer.

"I was a bit surprised to see a referee there, but referees are also part of our game and they don't want players sitting on the sidelines for something very innocuous," he said.

But Raper said he believed "common sense [had] prevailed" as Klemmer was not acting with any malice, but drawing Cummins' attention to an injured player.

"And I understand that we can't touch referees, but I think the indication of an injured player is more of a welfare type aspect for Dave Klemmer - that he was concerned about his player and he wanted to get the referees attention," Raper said.

Hasler today praised Bulldogs lawyer Nick Ghabar.

"It was a good result, particularly for David, personally, and also for the club, going forward," Hasler said.

It capped off an embarrassing week for the match review panel.

Broncos' James Roberts escaped suspension for the same offence with an early guilty plea while three other players who touched referees in the opening two rounds - Parramatta's Corey Norman, Penrith's Trent Merrin and Wests Tigers' five-eighth Mitchell Moses - each avoided a charge.